Meaning of names

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About

This site is a name meaning aggregator. This means it automatically searches many other sites for the meaning of a name.
We have served over 120,000 different names. For inquiries and suggestions you can use the contact form.

Why?

There are very many sites on the Internet about meaning of names. Some of them are very subjective while others have reliable information.Meaning of name synthesizes information from top sites to help you make an objective idea about name meanings.

Behind Names

Over the history names have been basic clues about someone's personality, occupation or appearance. Each nation has different name practices which are are also important to know. Some have traditions to pass the names from generation to generation while others use names related to individuals. Generally meanings of names weight more in Asia and Africa than in Europe and North America, where it is much more important how a name sounds like than what it actually means. Most of the western people have no idea about the meaning of their own name.
For gender checking, one of the best tool is newbabynames.org.

Source of data

Names Encyclopedia - This is an open encyclopedia of names, it has the largest database, but not all names are fully explained.

Behind the Name - The information on this website is well verified, but it doesn't have so many names.

Dictionary .com - Specialized in meanings and definitions of words and since some names are actually words, it can help.

Ancestry - Specialized in genealogy and famility trees, it also has information about surnames meaning.

Baby Zone - This site gives alternate spellings, international variations, famous people carrying the name, and celebrity babies.

Name Wizard - A name search engine where you can check full names, first names, surnames and even usernames.

Name dictionaries by language

Russian names - The Russian names are made of three parts - the forename (imya), the patronymic (otchestvo), and the family name (familya). What's special here is the patronymic which is derived from the father's forename and is gender dependent.
A comprehensive dictionary of russian names can be found here heraldry.sca.org/paul/.
Some popular Russian names are: Vasily, Boris, Ivan, Vladimir, Sergei.

Iranian names - Persian language belongs to the Indo-European family of languages. It is spoken mostly in the country of Iran in southwestern Asia. You can find a list of Iranian names and meanings here: persia.org.
Common Iranian names: Arjmand, Yasmin, Cyrus, Aleah.

Albanian names - Albanian is an Indo-European language which is spoken by almost 6 million people. It has two main dialects: Gheg and Tosk.
A list with Albanian names and meanings can be found here.
Popular names: Arjun, Eleri, Artan, Besa, Lirim.

Armenian names - Armenian last names are generally formed from first names with -ian/-yan suffixes, like Petros -> Petrosian.
You can find dictionaries with names and meanings on armenian.name.
Popular names: Aram, Arjan, Behar, Irene, Talin.

Scandinavian names - Scandinavian names are used in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands. Most of the names are from viking age, mythology, place names, nature, religion. Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland have strict laws about personal names to protect children from having odd names.
Scandinavian names and meanings are found on nordicnames.de and Namn-encyclopedin.
Popular names: Oscar, Harold, Ingrid, Gunnar, Eric, Kristin.

French names - They are made of one or more given names and a family name. Most of the people carry saint names from the Roman Catholic calendar. France has laws dictating what names can be given to a newborn baby. Dictionaries: nominis.cef.fr, e-prenoms.com.
Common names: Marie, Jacques, Jean, Michel, Dominique, Pierre.

Irish names - The pronunciations are very different from English pronunciations. These names are inspired from ancient folklore, Gaelic, Celtic, etc. Dictionaries: namenerds.com and ireland-information.com.
Top Irish names: Murphy, Kelly, O'Sullivan, Ryan.

Italian names - A language spoken primarily in Italy, but also in Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, Malta, Monaco and Croatia. It is a derivative of Latin and it has the closest vocabulary to Latin. You can find a couple of Italian name meanings on italianames.com.
Popular Italian names: Rossi, Alessandro, Andrea, Matteo, Giulia, Francesca, Chiara.

Filipino Names - Truly Philippine native names are very rare. The most common are Spanish names as the result of 400 years of occupation, followed by the English names which become very popular over the last decades. You can find a good list on bibingka.com/names.

Pakistani Names - The most of Pakistani names are derived from Arabic, Turkish and Persian names. A site about Pakistani names where users can contribute with meaning and origins - pakistan.web.pk/names
Top Pakistani names: Khirad, Muhammad, Hareem, Abdullah, Inaya.